MK Tells French Envoy: You Are Responsible for Anti-Semitism

MK Danon confronted the French ambassador to Israel, telling him that France is responsible for the growing anti-Semitism in the country.

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Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 27/06/12 13:23

Ambassador Christophe Bigot in Knesset

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Knesset Member Danny Danon confronted the French ambassador to Israel Wednesday, telling him that France is responsible for the growing anti-Semitism in the country.

MK Danon, speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Aliyah Committee that he chairs, revealed that violent anti-Semitic incidents in France soared by 53 percent in the period of January to May of this year compared with the same period in 2011. He added that Jews are afraid to walk in the streets with a kippa.

French Ambassador to Israel Christophe Bigot was invited to the session, and MK Danon told him, “You are responsible for anti-Semitism in your country. Do not let the violence against Jews raise its head – stop the anti-Semitism before it is too late.”

Bigot replied that most of the rise in anti-Semitism occurred following the brutal point-blank murders of a rabbi and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse March 19. Danon confirmed that instead of a fall in violent anti-Semtiic attacks after the murders, sixty percent of the anti-Semitic attacks in the January-May period were carried out in the 20 days following the Toulouse murders.

He said that France must fight anti-Semitism and that it has invested half a million Euro for security.

Danon said there were 274 recorded incidents of anti-Semitism in the five-month period, and more than half of them involved murder, attempted murder or other attempts to physically harm Jews.